Yes I just feel like lightening up.. away from all the one-after-another salacious soap operas going on in our courts these days. I really spoke too soon after the first one (see Issue 12/12). Tsk tsk.. where are our morals going to these day?! But going back to wholesomeness..
1. FENG TIANWEI
2 words: Thank you. Ignore the naysayers. You’ve shut them off when you were struggling with form and have got a nation’s weight on your shoulders. All the more when you’ve done the job you can forget about them. It’s the result that matters. Tan Howe Liang would be most grateful to you. Henceforth it is your name that will be repeated in Singapore sports history, hopefully not for another 52 years. Those of us safe in our armchairs and comfort zone jobs and do not have the talent or guts to pursue sporting dreams, just shut up. If you want to criticise, allow your child to pursue his or her passion whether in sports, music or arts, and see how far passion can take them.
Two years ago when I was travelling in Spain, a nation very proud of its sports and at the very forefront in soccer and tennis amongst others, I was asked what Singapore is good at. I was tongue-tied for a full minute until I remember our table tennis world champions at the time, thanks to Feng and her teammates, not forgetting the then Chinese coach who pulled it off but who was, unceremoniously, and I would think rather ungratefully, forced to leave soon after. Such is the sad state of our sports environment. Yes we are not very good at gratitude here. But I do believe that most of us, not necessarily the vocal ones, are thanking you, Feng, from the bottom of our hearts. Well done.
2. TONY LEUNG CHIU WAI
Ah.. my idol is 50 this year. And still as suave as ever. But what really made my heart jump is his announcement that he is lightening up and going to do brighter and cheerful roles from now onwards. Yeah!! The old Tony Leung is back. Thanks or no thanks to Wong Kar-Wai the auteur director who brought out Tony’s best in a number of award-winning roles but also kept him away from the limelight for years with each of his never-ending multi-year art film oft with no release date in sight, I sure miss the Tony Leung of old who enchanted me with his unforgettable free-spirited definitive interpretation of that cheeky flirty Wei Xiaobao in that old TVB drama adaptation of Jin Yong’s last wuxia novel eons ago, and continued to charm over and over again when he moved to movies just by appearing and lightening up the screen with his charisma every time he appears however lousy the rest of the movie, and cast, may be. Those days he still did comedies occasionally between the heavy stuff. Then came the longer and longer Wong productions and Tony just seems to be in seclusion most of the time, apart from his wedding of the century with Carina Lau a few years ago, that got remote Bhutan so popular that even my hairdresser wants to go. I am so looking forward to his return to lighter stuff, or to his appearance at all. At last there is reason to go back to the cinema halls for Chinese films again.
3. TOM CRUISE
Haha.. this one not so wholesome. But he is also 50 this year. And strangely, he is a part of my entertainment memories for as long as I can remember. Still looking as youthful as ever, 3 divorces later. Yes zee Tom Cruise is charming in person. I have never seen Tony Leung in person, but I have caught Cruise when he was in Singapore eons ago, promoting a forgettable film which I can’t remember the name now, but he came fresh from his last, I mean 2nd last divorce, with a Spanish starlet on his arms. We were holed up upstairs at Isetan Shaw House by the red carpet for the longest time very tired and bothered because the man was very late. Later I was to learn that he had spent a lot of time with the fans downstairs that added to the delay. And much later I was to meet an American guy while backpacking in South Africa who was actually in the downstairs crowd that fateful day in Singapore but that is another story.
Anyway all was forgotten once Cruise appeared, with a handsome sincere smile, not as short as rumoured, and extremely warm to the fans, picking up a fallen pen here and very obliging to us like an old friend rather than Hollywood star. Such was his sway that my friend simply declared that Nicole must have been the one at fault. And yes, people are taking sides again. I like Nicole a lot but I cannot say the same about Katie, nothing to do with rights or wrongs, or for that matter, scientology. There are always 2 sides to a coin and especially in a marriage relationship, only those two will know. Quite simply, one was a talented actress, and the other? I cannot forgive for being the only spoiler in an otherwise brilliant Batman trilogy. So there. I wasn’t particularly a fan of Cruise, but he did make some enjoyable movies. And you have to give the man credit for some of his work, and for looking good ;p And for providing us mere mortals with fodder gossip in this otherwise staid world of boring bad news, and for a coincidental collective memory to identify with when chatting with a fellow traveller in a foreign land.
Yes, if anything, personalities and celebrities brighten up our lives. And etch themselves into our collective memories. I just watched a very interesting HK TVB serial When Heaven Burns the other day – the best one to come along these days when I am more addicted to drama of the Korean variety. A character said that memories are meant for appreciation, not for hiding from the present. So I say cherish the happy moments that these 3 bring to us. Thank you for the memories 🙂
The Irreverent Times 